Men eat 93% more pizza around women they want to impress: study

Men may overeat pizza to impress women they like. (Dragonvanish / iStock)

He's not that into you if he's not chowing down.

Men eat 93% more pizza when dining with women they want to impress, according to a new Cornell University study.

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Researchers say they watched 105 adults eating lunch at an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet over two weeks. They recorded how many slices of pizza and the number of bowls of salad that each person ate, as well as each diner's gender.

The men who ate with at least one woman scarfed down about 1 1/2 more slices and 86% more salad than the guys who just dined with other dudes.

"Men tend to overeat to show off," lead author Kevin Kniffin of Cornell, said in a statement. He later told CBS, "People have an evolved tendency to 'show off' in front of others, whether it's for dominance and/or to show a kind of attractiveness. (The study sees) the actual volume of food consumed — both healthy and unhealthy food — as a way to 'show off.'"

The men in the Cornell Study also scarfed down extra salad on dates. (zeleno/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Previous research has suggested that in comparison, women eat less in the company of men. But the ladies in the Cornell study noshed the same amount when eating with men as they did with other women.

They reported feeling like they overate while out with the guys, however, or complained they were more rushed through their meal than when they were on a girls' night out - even though neither was necessarily true.

But no matter how you slice it, the experts say diners should relax and savor their meals, since overeating can lead to digestive problems and obesity.

"These findings are clear that people should calm down when eating with members of the opposite sex," wrote Kniffin.